JTWC Northern Indian Ocean Best Track Data

Click on a year link in the left-hand column to view or download Best Track data
files for Northern Indian Ocean tropical cyclones for that year. Note that the
Northern Indian Ocean covers both the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea basins. Data
are available as individual storm text files and yearly compressed files (zip f
ormat).
Note: 1945-1970 data files have not been reviewed or updated for y2k and there a
re no storm or year notes for those years.

Last updated: 24 Feb 2010

Individual Best Track File Name Breakdown (examples):
bio011985.txt=Best-track-Indian-Ocean-01-Storm-1985.Text-format
bsh011985.txt= Best-track-Southern-Hemisphere-01-Storm-1985.Text-format
bwp011985.txt=Best-track-Western-Pacific-01-Storm-1985.Text-format
io_storm_notes_1985.txt=Northern Indian Ocean Storm Notes
io_year_notes_1985.txt=Northern Indian Ocean Yearly Notes
1985s-bio-full.zip =Zip file of all 1985 Northern Indian Ocean Best Tracks and
storm/year notes if exist
Indian Ocean Best Track Data Format BASIN,CY, YYYYMMDDHH,TECHNUM, TECH,TAU, La
tN/S,LonE/W, VMAX,MSLP,
TY,RAD, WINDCODE,RAD1, RAD2,RAD3, RAD4,RADP, RRP,MRD, GUSTS,EYE,
SUBREGION,MAXSEAS, INITIALS,DIR, SPEED,STORMNAME, DEPTH,SEAS, SEASCODE,SEAS1, SE
AS2,SEAS3, SEAS4
BASIN - basin, e.g. WP, IO, SH, CP, EP, AL
CY - annual cyclone number: 1 through 99
YYYYMMDDHH - Warning Date-Time-Group: 0000010100 through 9999123123. (note, 4 di
git year)
TECHNUM - objective technique sorting number: 00 - 99
TECH - acronym for each objective technique or CARQ or WRNG, BEST for best track
.
TAU - forecast period: -24 through 120 hours, 0 for best-track, negative taus us
ed for CARQ and WRNG records.
LatN/S - Latitude (tenths of degrees) for the DTG: 0 through 900, N/S is the hem
ispheric index.
LonE/W - Longitude (tenths of degrees) for the DTG: 0 through 1800, E/W is the h
emispheric index.
VMAX - Maximum sustained wind speed in knots: 0 through 300.
MSLP - Minimum sea level pressure, 1 through 1100 MB.
TY - Level of tc development:
TD - tropical depression,
TS - tropical storm,
TY - typhoon,
ST - super typhoon,
TC - tropical cyclone,
HU - hurricane,
SD - subtropical depression,
SS - subtropical storm,
EX - extratropical systems,
IN - inland,
DS - dissipating,
LO - low,
WV - tropical wave,
ET - extrapolated,
XX - unknown.
RAD - Wind intensity (kts) for the radii defined in this record: 35, 50, 65 or 1
00.
WINDCODE - Radius code:
AAA - full circle
NNS - north semicircle
NES - northeast semicircle
EES - east semicircle
SES - southeast semicircle
SSS - south semicircle
SWS - southwest semicircle
WWS - west semicircle
NWS - northwest semicircle
QQQ - quadrant (NNQ, NEQ, EEQ, SEQ, SSQ, SWQ, WWQ, NWQ)
RAD1 - If full circle, radius of specified wind intensity, If semicircle or quad
rant, radius
of specified wind intensity of circle portion specified in radius code. 0 - 1200
nm.
RAD2 - If full circle this field not used, If semicicle, radius (nm) of specifie
d wind intensity
for semicircle not specified in radius code, If quadrant, radius (nm) of specifi
ed wind intensity
for 2nd quadrant (counting clockwise from quadrant specified in radius code). 0
through 1200 nm.
RAD3 - If full circle or semicircle this field not used, If quadrant, radius (nm
) of specified wind
intensity for 3rd quadrant (counting clockwise from quadrant specified in radius
code). 0 through 1200 nm.
RAD4 - If full circle or semicircle this field not used, If quadrant, radius (nm
) of specified wind
intensity for 4th quadrant (counting clockwise from quadrant specified in radius
code). 0 through 1200 nm.
RADP - pressure in millibars of the last closed isobar, 900 - 1050 mb.
RRP - radius of the last closed isobar in nm, 0 - 9999 nm.
MRD - radius of max winds, 0 - 999 nm.
GUSTS - gusts, 0 through 995 kts.
EYE - eye diameter, 0 through 999 nm.
SUBREGION - subregion code: W, A, B, S, P, C, E, L.
A - Arabian Sea
B - Bay of Bengal
C - Central Pacific
E - Eastern Pacific
L - Atlantic
P - South Pacific (135E - 120W)
S - South IO (20E - 135E)
W - Western Pacific
MAXSEAS - max seas: 0 through 999 ft.
INITIALS - Forecaster's initials, used for tau 0 WRNG, up to 3 chars.
DIR - storm direction, 0 - 359 degrees.
SPEED - storm speed, 0 - 999 kts.
STORMNAME - literal storm name, NONAME or INVEST. TCcyx used pre-1999, where:
cy = Annual cyclone number 01 through 99
x = Subregion code: W, A, B, S, P, C, E, L.
A - Arabian Sea
B - Bay of Bengal
C - Central Pacific
E - Eastern Pacific
L - Atlantic
P - South Pacific (135E - 120W)
S - South IO (20E - 135E)
W - Western Pacific
DEPTH - system depth, D-deep, M-medium, S-shallow, X-unknown
SEAS - Wave height for radii defined in SEAS1-SEAS4, 0-99 ft.
SEASCODE - Radius code:
AAA - full circle
NNS - north semicircle
NES - northeast semicircle
EES - east semicircle
SES - southeast semicircle
SSS - south semicircle
SWS - southwest semicircle
WWS - west semicircle
NWS - northwest semicircle
QQQ - quadrant (NNQ, NEQ, EEQ, SEQ, SSQ, SWQ, WWQ, NWQ)
SEAS1 - first quadrant seas radius as defined by SEASCODE, 0 through 999 nm.
SEAS2 - second quadrant seas radius as defined by SEASCODE, 0 through 999 nm.
SEAS3 - third quadrant seas radius as defined by SEASCODE, 0 through 999 nm.
SEAS4 - fourth quadrant seas radius as defined by SEASCODE, 0 through 999 nm.
Fields currently used for best track records:
BASIN, CY, YYYYMMDDHH, , TECH, TAU, LatN/S, LonE/W, VMAX, MSLP, TY
TECH = BEST
TAU = 0
All fields are used for objective-aids history records (CARQ,WRNG,COMS):
TECHNUM = 01 - CARQ and COMS, 00 - WRNG
TECH = CARQ, WRNG, COMS
INITIALS for WRNG/OFCL record
Repeated for tau -24 through tau 0
Fields for objective-aids forecasts records:
BASIN, CY, YYYYMMDDHH, TECHNUM, TECH, TAU, LatN/S, LonE/W, VMAX, MSLP, TY, RAD,
WINDCODE, RAD1, RAD2, RAD3, RAD4
Repeated for tau 0 through tau 120
Wind records merged in from existing r-decks will be assigned a TECH of CNTR. Wi
nd records created during normal use of the combined abr-deck will be assigned t
he TECH corresponding to the center name as defined in $ATCFINC/atcfsite.nam.

This review is the result of a coordinated effort between Naval Research Lab, Mo
nterey and JTWC.
Persons involved are Dr. J H. Chu, Mr. A. Levine, Mr. S. Daida, Capt. D. Schiber
, Mr. E. Fukada, Mr. C. R. Sampson.